Unite Oregon condemns SCOTUS Muslim Ban 3.0 Decision

Portland, OR Unite Oregon condemns the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the Muslim Ban to remain in effect.

Today's 5-4 decision reversed the injunction in December 2017 that prevented the Trump administration denying visas to foreign nationals from eight different countries, and is the latest example of the Supreme Court disregarding the civil rights of marginalized communities.

This decision will join other notorious examples of the court validating racial prejudice such as Korematsu v United States and Dred Scott v Sandford. More than half a century ago, Congress abandoned a racist immigration system that preferred some races over others. This decision is an abandonment of that milestone and is the latest example of the Roberts Court advancing the cause of white supremacy.

In a passionate and searing dissent from the bench, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, “[by] blindly accepting the government's misguided invitation to sanction a discriminatory policy motivated by animosity toward a disfavored group, all in the name of a superficial claim of national security, the Court redeploys the same dangerous logic underlying Korematsu and merely replaces one ‘gravely wrong’ decision with another.”

“As a Muslim-American, I am heartbroken and I am calling on all people in this country to stand in solidarity with our immigrant/refugee communities and the people this administration is targeting. The U.S. Supreme Court today legalized religious and ethnic discrimination and gave the president broad powers to selectively exclude people who he deems to be undesirable.

Sadly, this not the first time U.S Supreme Court legitimized racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination. But more importantly, we will continue the fight against bigoted policies and we will ultimately defeat hate and bigotry.”

We at Unite Oregon know that we cannot wait for nine unelected elites to hand our communities our liberation. That is why we will keep fighting to demand racial justice and equality. It is up to us to put an end to religious bigotry.

Unite Oregon is led by people of color, immigrants and refugees, rural communities, and people experiencing poverty. We work across Oregon to build a unified intercultural movement for justice.